Two

'Ow,' Ichigo moans, clutching his grazed knee as he walks along the pavement away from the soccer pitch.

'Quit moaning,' Hichigo mutters, staring at his twin in exasperation. 'It's not gonna kill you.'

Ichigo puts on his brave face and stands up straight. 'This is nothing!' he announces, and Hichigo snorts with laughter.

'Hey! It's not funny!'

'I never said it was,' Hichigo says, smiling. All of a sudden, a droplet of water hits him of the nose and he looks up to see the grey clouds above them.

'Uh oh. It's raining,' Ichigo says.

'Let's run there!' Hichigo shouts, tearing off down the street.

'Wait!' Ichigo calls, pulling out his folded up yellow raincoat out of his pocket and pulling it on. Hichigo stares back at his twin and realises that it is probably a good idea. A minute later, a small white-haired boy wearing a blue raincoat races down the street with his twin following behind in a limp.

'Wait up!' Ichigo cries, not wanting to get left behind.

The two eight-year-olds are meant to wait for their father to pick them up at the park. Both of them decide that it's probably a good idea if they shelter under the old yew tree that Hichigo once fell out of and broke his leg when he attempted to climb it. The rain is already pouring down, very heavy, and the twins are quite tired from their rush here. Both of them slump down against the tree and Hichigo rests his head on Ichigo's shoulder.

'Hey... Shiro-chan?' Ichigo says after a moment of silence but the sound of the rain pounding down.

'I told you to stop calling me that!' Hichigo says indignantly, blinking raindrops out of his eyes.

'Shiro-chan,' Ichigo continues, ignoring his twin's remark. 'I... I'm sorry about letting that goal in... we could have won and it was all my fault.'

The game is not the true reason Ichigo is sorry; it is the fight after that was caused by the results of the game that Ichigo is apologising for. He's sorry for Hichigo being so hopelessly outnumbered, and there wasn't a damn thing Ichigo could do about it.

'It's okay,' Hichigo murmurs sleepily. 'Those cowards will get it coming next time, anyway.'

Ichigo smiles and closes his eyes.

Eventually they hear something other than the rain. Footsteps, quite heavy, a grown man perhaps. They are drawing closer and closer. The two eight-year-olds open their eyes to look up at a tall man wearing a black suit and holding an umbrella of the same colour above his head. He has curly brown hair, rectangular-shaped glasses and a friendly smile.

'You're the Kurosaki boys, aren't you?' he says in a deep, nice-sounding hypnotic voice. Ichigo is about to nod when his twin says sharply, 'We're not supposed to talk to strangers.'

The man chuckles. 'Very good, Hichigo.'

Shiro-chan stiffens. How does he know his name?

Ichigo peers up curiously. 'Do we know you?'

'Oh, you won't remember me,' the man says cheerfully. 'You two were infants when I last saw you. But, really, I'm not a stranger, and I'm glad to see the no-talking rule isn't applying anyway.'

'Who are you?' Hichigo demands.

'I'm a friend of Masaki's,' the man says, holding out his hand to the twins. 'Sôsuke Aizen.'

'You know Mommy?' Ichigo asks.

'Oh yes, your mother and I were good friends.'

''Were'?' Hichigo echoes. 'Not any more?'

The man peers at the younger twin more closely. 'You're quite an intelligent little boy, aren't you?'

'I'm not little!' Hichigo huffs.

'Sorry,' Ichigo says sheepishly. 'Shiro-chan's sometimes not that good at being friendly.'

''Shiro-chan'? That's quite a cute nickname.'

Hichigo fumes and Ichigo smiles up at the man. 'What did you say your name was again?'

'Sôsuke Aizen. You can call me Uncle Sôsuke if you want. I'm sure your parents would be pleased to see me again.'

Hichigo is growing increasingly uncomfortable. Ichigo can be quite gullible at times and Hichigo does not trust this 'Sôsuke Aizen' at all. Never has he heard his parents speak the name before. He clutches onto his twin a little tighter, trying to subtly show Ichigo that he is feeling uneasy about this. Ichigo nudges him reassuringly

'Are you waiting for someone? I could drop you off back at your house if you want, I know where it is.'

Ding ding ding ding! The alarm bells are definitely ringing through the younger twin's head now. He begins to panic. What if this man kidnaps them?

'Ichigo? Shiro-chan?'

Whimpering in relief, Hichigo gets to his feet, pulling Ichigo with him. 'Our dad's here,' he announces to Sôsuke Aizen. Not letting go of Ichigo's hand, he drags his twin over to where their father is standing with a blue umbrella, waiting for them. Hichigo raps his arms around his father, so very glad to see him, and Isshin ruffles his snowy white hair.

'Dad, there's a man over there who says he knows Mommy,' Ichigo announces, pointing at Sôsuke Aizen. 'He says we can call him 'Uncle Sôsuke'.'

Isshin freezes. Then, very slowly, he says,' Okay, I'll go and speak with him. Ichigo, Shiro-chan, you should go and wait in the car.'

'You weren't being very nice to that guy,' Ichigo scolds his twin as settles down in his seat in the back of the car, next to his twin. Hichigo, however, is far too focused staring out the window at his father and 'Uncle Sôsuke'. Uncle Sôsuke?! Why on earth should the twins have to call this strange man that? They've only just met him!

'You were really rude to him!' Ichigo says.

'I don't like him,' Hichigo says stubbornly. 'You were way to quick to trust him. Oh, Dad's waving his arms around a lot. D'you think they're arguing?'

'Let me see,' Ichigo instructs, shuffling over to his twin and barging past him so he can see through the window too.

'Oh yeah, you're right,' Ichigo says, surprised. 'So, why don't you like him, Shiro-chan?'

There's a moment of silence, and then the younger twin says, very quietly, 'He scares me.'

Ichigo can't help it. He lets out a snicker. The mighty, strong Hichigo, who can protect him from kids three years older than them, is scared? This is quite priceless.

'Shut up!' Hichigo says, scowling, his pale cheeks flushing.

'It's okay, Shiro-chan,' Ichigo says, wrapping his arms around his brother for a big hug. 'This man isn't mean or anything. He was really nice to us. You don't have to be scared!'

'Get off me!' Hichigo mumbles, his voice muffled because his face is pressed up against his older twin brother. Ichigo laughs.

Hichigo turns to look out the window again. Both men are talking quite calmly to each other now, and he wonders if he is just imagining things about Sôsuke Aizen.